Emmanuel Macron is now leading the France elections ahead of Marine Le Pen

The Harris Interactive poll, conducted March 6-8 among 4,932 people for France Televisions, claimed the 39-year-old will come out ahead of the Front National leader before going to defeat her again in the second round of voting.

Macron is expected to win 26 per cent of the vote during the first round of voting on April 23, while Le Pen is due to follow closely behind on 25 per cent.

According to reports, this is the second poll to give the popular former economist minister a first round lead.

Le Pen's position has not changed from a poll conduced two weeks ago, in which Macron has surged six percentage points after he unveiled his campaign manifesto and receiving support from former candidate Francois Bayrou.

Things you didn't know about Marine Le Pen Mon, February 20, 2017

Marine Le Pen is a French politician who is the president of the National Front, a national-conservative political party in France and one of its main political forces.

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Described as more democratic and republican than her nationalist father, she has led a movement of "de-demonization of the Front National" to detoxify it and soften its image

The predictions come days after independent candidate Macron vowed to speak on behalf of France’s middle class.

Speaking to AFP news agency on Tuesday, Macron said: “The contract with the middle classes, which are both the political and economic bedrock of our democracy, has been broken.

The poll showed Fillon, a former prime minister who had sought to project a wholesome image before the scandal broke in January, would be eliminated from the race with only 20 percent of the first round vote, down one point from two weeks earlier.

In the May 7 runoff vote, Macron was seen winning the presidency by 65 percent to 35 ahead of Le Pen – a 10 per cent swing in the centrist’s favour from two weeks ago.